Emanuel fundraising slows after election

The fierce pace of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's fundraising tapered to a trickle once he was elected, with only $91,000 in contributions since April 1, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday that showed him with more than $1.5 million left in the bank.

Most of the post-election contributions came in $5,000 chunks from lawyers, based on the Emanuel campaign's quarterly report for contributions from April 1 through June 30. Included in Emanuel's total was $15,000 for polling commissioned by the Teamsters union that included questions about how voters felt about the mayor-elect in early May.

Emanuel paid the Chicago law firm Mayer Brown $200,000 but still owed more than half of their $473,833 in legal fees for work that included defending him against a residency challenge in the campaign. Emanuel also listed $145 for newspapers and his pre-dawn daily medium black coffee at the same Starbucks store on the near North Side.

Congressional fundraising totals also released Friday show some Republicans, already vulnerable from a Democratic-drawn reapportionment map, could be susceptible to a general election challenge.

The new congressional map pits some Republicans against each other or against strong Democratic incumbents.

Former Democratic Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia, making a political comeback in the new west suburban 11th District, reported nearly $360,000 in cash on hand, though he still had more than $1 million in debts from his 2010 loss to Republican Rep. Randy Hultgren.

Hultgren, of Winfield, one of five new Republicans elected in the mid-term elections, had $242,780 in cash available, but he also listed $55,250 in debts. Hultgren remains in a GOP-leaning far west suburban 14th District.

Another first-term Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Manteno, totaled $431,512 in cash on hand. Kinzinger was drawn into the district of Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. of Chicago but could move into the 14th or the 16th District, which is now held by veteran Republican Rep. Donald Manzullo.

Manzullo in northwestern Illinois, freshman Republican Rep. Bobby Schilling in western Illinois and GOP Rep. Tim Johnson in central Illinois all had between $222,000 and $275,000 in available cash.

Rep. Peter Roskam of Wheaton, a member of the House GOP leadership, had more than $1.7 million in cash on hand, raising nearly $450,000 in the three-month reporting period. Republican Rep. Aaron Schock of Peoria had $1.4 million and GOP Rep. John Shimkus of Collinsville had $1.25 million in cash.

Freshman GOP Rep. Robert Dold of Kenilworth listed $751,881 in money on hand. Dold was drawn into a Democratic-leaning district now held by Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston. She had $368,683 on hand.

Among other Democrats, Southwest Side and suburban Rep. Dan Lipinski had $695,380 in cash available to spend, North and Northwest Side Rep. Mike Quigley had $321,467, Jackson, who represents the South Side and suburbs, had about $306,000 as did West Side Rep. Danny Davis.

Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who also has a West Side district, reported $487,524 in cash for re-election.